Question #358

What about holy water?

Can you please give me the views of the Church on the Blessing of Water? By that I mean, in some religions (Catholics for one) water is “blessed” by a Priest and made “Holy”? Is this possible and is it a man-made practice or is it in the Bible? Thank you.

The Answer:

Since the Bible has no teaching on the subject there is nothing for the church to teach. Since the practice is not taught, much less authorized in scripture, it is a man-made practice. That in and of itself does not make it wrong since matters that the scripture does not bind are matters of opinion in which men may determine their practice as long as that practice does not violate scripture. Thus, the question is whether the practice of blessing water is a matter of opinion that does not violate scripture.

The earliest written documentation of Holy Water by Christians is in the Apostolic Constitutions, the author and date of which are uncertain. Some attribute it to Clement of Rome, but no basis was given for that attribution in the source that made it. That authorship would be difficult since Clement of Rome died in 99 to 101 A.D. and the dates for the Constitutions range from 120 A.D. to 190 A.D. One source said the quote came from the 300s but that is far outside all other dates seen. It could be that the writer considered that the date the manuscript was found, but it did not say so. The comment is taken from the Constitutions, Sec. IV, XXIX: “Concerning the water and the oil, I Matthias make a constitution. Let the bishop bless the water, or the oil. But if he be not there, let the presbyter bless it, the deacon standing by. But if the bishop be present, let the presbyter and deacon stand by, and let him say thus: O Lord of hosts, the God of powers, the creator of the waters, and the supplier of oil, who art compassionate, and a lover of mankind, who hast given water for drink and for cleansing, and oil to give man a cheerful and joyful countenance; do Thou now also sanctify this water and this oil through Thy Christ, in the name of him or her that has offered them, and grant them a power to restore health, to drive away diseases, to banish demons, and to disperse all snares through Christ our hope, with whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee, and to the Holy Ghost, for ever. Amen.”

Apostolic Constitutions was always considered on of the spurious books. Thus, it has no apostolic origin or approval. This does not necessarily mean that it violates scripture. There is no doubt that water played a great role in biblical history. The scripture (KJV) refers to “holy water” one time: “And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:” (Num 5:17). The water in this case was used in connection with the testing of a woman’s faithfulness to her husband when there was no witness to the alleged conduct. The water was probably taken from the basin before the sanctuary, which served for holy purposes (Exod. 30:18). It was mingled with dust from the floor of the dwelling and the woman was to drink it in connection with the priestly procedure commanded by the Lord. In the New Testament there are no such basins, no such procedures, and no such commands. Thus it cannot be used as authority for the modern procedure.

In the modern procedure the “holy water” is generally used for healing or, as the Apostolic Constitutions recite, for “power to restore health, to drive away diseases, to banish demons, and to disperse all snares….” Since the stated purpose is unscriptural (there are no modern-day miracles in the biblical manner) the use of water for that purpose is unscriptural. Moreover, a very common use of such paraphernalia is by TV evangelists to defraud people. They will offer a vial of water (or oil or a rag or alleged Holy Land sand) over which they have prayed and assure the hearers that for a “gift” they will send this “thing” and it will bring everything for healing to prosperity.

In short, there is no biblical authority for the use of “holy water.”